Basile secures huge win over Oberlin; prepares for playoffs

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OBERLIN -- The Basile Bearcats forced a three-way tie for the District 4-1A championship Friday night after they secured a huge 42-25 win over the Oberlin Tigers.
With the win, Basile improved to 3-2 on the year and has won its last two games in a row after starting the season 1-2. The Bearcats will now await the announcement of the Class 1A playoff bracket Sunday to see if who they will play.
Basile has definitely locked up a home playoff game with its power rating, however the Bearcats could find themselves with a first round bye depending on how the bracket shakes out.
After the game, an elated Basile head coach, Kevin Bertrand, talked about his team’s performance.
“Tonight was a total team effort in every phase of the game,” stated Bertrand. “I thought we came together. We just believed everybody was going to do their job. Our guys have a lot of heart. They don’t believe they can’t do something.,”
“As long as they have the ball in their hands and as long as they have a play to make, they’re going to make it,” Bertrand continued. “The coaching staff did a great job of getting them prepared this week.”
As in every heavyweight fight, opponents land blows on each other throughout the contest. Friday was no different, as the game swung back and forth the entire time, until Basile took control in the final quarter.
The Tigers were the first to land the first blow, scoring on a Jack Chaisson one-yard run about half-way through the first quarter.
Basile answered two minutes later when Ethan Bazinet scored from nine yards out. The two point pass from Cole Manuel to Justin Smith made it an 8-6 Bearcat lead with 3:34 to go in the first quarter.
A Malachi Semien eight yard run put Oberlin back up by four, 12-8, with a little less than two minutes remaining in the opening quarter.
The momentum swung back in Basile’s favor with 8:31 to go in the second quarter when Bazinet blasted in from one yard out. With the extra point from Jose Palacios, the Bearcats led 15-12.
Oberlin took back the lead at the 31 second mark of the period on a Semien one-yard touchdown run. The two-point run failed making it an 18-15 game in favor of the Tigers.
Basile countered the Oberlin touchdown with one of their own with only four ticks of the clock left before half. The Manuel to Smith connection worked from one yard out, and the extra point by Palacios put the Bearcats up 21-18 as the teams headed into the locker room.
With the game still in the balance, Oberlin struck first in the third quarter on a Semien 20-yard run. Desean Deville knocked the extra point through giving the Tigers a 25-21 advantage.
From that point on it was all Basile. The Bearcats took the lead for good at the 4:36 mark of the third quarter when Ashton Deaville jaunted in from five yards out.
Bazinet padded the Bearcat lead two and a half minutes later on a two yard run and Horace Edwards put the nail in the coffin when he sprinted 31 yards to pay dirt late in the fourth quarter.
Edwards led all runners with 180 yards on 20 carries.